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Friday, April 29, 2011

"Summer is coming quickly - what 2011 summer release are you are most looking forward to?"

I have to say, I really don't know what is coming out this summer. My avenues for reading are whatever is at Costco, the library, or a recommendation from friends and fellow bloggers. I do have a few series that I read but sadly nothing is coming out till 2012~~~ Oh the waiting. Although I have noticed now that I have a book blog and have been poking around, checking things out, there are a few titles that are of interest that are coming out. I believe there is one from Debbie Macomber coming out. Yippee... Jodi Picoult is another favorite, but she just had a book come out so I doubt she has another back to back.

Have a fantastic weekend. Thanks for seeing my answer fellow bloggers. If you follow me I follow back.

Oh and if you can take a look, I did a review of "The Chocolate Diaries" that is coming out in May 2011. It was an enjoyable book.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Right out the gate, I will say this was a really refreshing and enjoyable book to read. It is a terrific, easy to read self-help book that covers a lot of areas and had great recipes for chocolate! And who doesn’t like a little chocolate. Every chapter was creatively written. Funny and witty. Each chapter ends with “Food for Thought” that covers main points in that chapter. I particularly enjoyed hearing the little story about the Starbuck drive thru and paying for the coffee for the person behind you. A fantastic way to pay it forward and brighten someone else’s day. I also really enjoyed the Seven Sweet Pick Me Ups to cover the seven days of the week. I belong to a moms group and I want to add it to our newsletter so others can enjoy the pick me ups, because we know all moms could use a little pick me up!

The only negative thing I have to say about the book is the author tends to reference a few “stories” from her other books. After reading a sentence that she referred to a previous book, I felt like I was jumping into the middle of a series. Although I am sure the author didn’t mean for that, it still felt that way. I have not read any previous books from this author, so I then felt like I missed a little morsel of something. But that is my only negative. Again, loved the book and great tips in all sorts of places. I have my little sticky notes stuck to a bunch of pages for reference in the future.

A special thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for the free copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion. It was a great first book to get!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Within a week I finished reading "Between Friends" by Debbie Macomber. What an excellent book! It had me from the very beginning. I just happened to pick up the book at the library without reading anything about it. I then took it with me to the gym to read on the elliptical. An hour later, I was totally into the book and ready to exercise away for another hour just to keep reading. It is about two friends and the trials and tribulations that they endure throughout their life and friendship. They encounter financial difficulty, loss of loved ones, children, husbands, lovers, health issues. It was also dealing with things in history. Women's movement, Vietnam war, 9/11, volcanic eruptions, and other historical dates. It was also wrote in a creative way. The story was told in letters. Letters between friends, between husband and wives, mother and daughter, daughter and fathers, loved ones and family. I am happy to say that I passed it on to a good friend of mine and she is half way through it within one day! If you are looking for a great book, this is the one. I am pretty sure I am going to recommend this book to my moms club for a future book club pick.

With all of that being said... this is a great lead to my blog hop question for the week. "If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

YES!!! I happen to love Debbie Macomber. I have read all of the Blossom Street series books. Psst... highly recommend "Twenty Wishes". That book makes you want to create a wish list. Its not particularly the same as a bucket list, but close. It was my first book that I read of hers and I was hooked after that! Macomber has such a great style of writing. I have never been bored with any of her books. What's hard is when you find a book and fall in love with the writer and that book was the first book they wrote! The waiting is hard.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Im off to start reading a new book "The Chocolate Diaries".

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Being such an avid reader along with everything else on my plate, this is such a good find. Crazy-for-books.com has a book blog hop. What a fantastic way to meet and see what others are reading. I am always in the hunt for a good book. I was just poking around on the net and googling books and blogging for books, etc., and up popped raves about Crazy-for-books.com. So I am excited to experience this new blog and hopefully get some good reads out of it. So I am off to do some hopping. IF you are from that blog hop and ventured over to my site, below are some books that I have reviewed and posted that I am currently reading. Sadly I read several books at once. But I do finish them.

Take care.

Currently reading.... Between Friends by Debbie Macomber. So far it is a great book. I am half way through and I started Monday of this week.

I decided after several posts on my other blog that maybe I should separate my two passions. Art and crafts and reading. I do alot of both and I think they both deserve their own blogs. So this is my bookshelf for all the books that I am reading, going to read, or have read. I am really excited to start this blog as reading is such a big part of what I do all the time. I hope you all enjoy.